Day 49 - Follow
Wherever David goes In Psalm 23, God’s goodness is already there.
Day 49 - Follow
Psalm 23:6 — “…Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me…”
No, you didn’t miss anything. Goodness is the next word in this verse and then lovingkindness. But, we’re going to step out of order for just a minute.
We’re just about ready to talk about two of the most important aspects of our relationship with God. We can’t understand those two things without understanding how they work. That is found in the word that comes right after them. Let’s look at that first.
God’s goodness and lovingkindness follow us.
You need to understand why that is so important before we take a deep dive into what each of those words means. It means that in a world where bad things happen and temptations are always present, God’s goodness and mercy are there too.
The thing that makes God’s goodness and mercy so incredible is that these two characteristics pursue us throughout the course of our lives. While Satan is constantly trying to distract me with evil, God’s goodness and lovingkindness are always present—always there no matter where I go in life.
When the world pulls me toward destruction, God pursues me with restoration.
When evil wants to consume me, God‘s follows me to redeem me.
When Satan wants me isolated, God’s love keeps drawing me back into relationship with Him.
Wherever David goes in Psalm 23, God’s goodness is already there.
The Hebrew word translated “follow” is radap. It means to pursue, chase, hunt down, or follow after. It is the word Scripture uses when an enemy is pursuing someone.
Scripture describes Satan as an adversary who seeks to devour us. It says that temptation follows us, the world pulls at us and sin seeks to master us.
A time will come in your life when you will enter a season you’ve never experienced before. You will, some day, face a diagnosis. A disappointment. A loss. A difficult relationship or a future you can’t see clearly. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
But you already know who will be there.
Goodness will be there.
Lovingkindness will be there.
We need to know that before we delve into what those words really mean.
Tomorrow: the goodness of God.
